Stuck in My Head

My Alex Chilton kick continues, this time with an early 90s band deeply influenced by Chilton's Big Star. Scotland's Teenage Fanclub were critical darlings in their day, but I didn't exactly like them at the time. I've gone back and listened to 1991's Bandwagonesque, which is full of power pop gems that sound like carbon copies of the standout tracks from Radio City or #1 Record. Here's one of them -- "Star Sign".

What is Classic Rock?

The numbers gurus over at FiveThirtyEight put together an excellent analysis of what constitutes classic rock. They analyzed song plays on classic rock radio in the top thirty markets across the country and found that -- while there are a lot of similarities (Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Boston), there are just as many differences. For example, Billy Joel gets the most plays in New York and Miami, but far fewer plays elsewhere. Of course, I'd be happy if he got no plays -- how could a piano be the lead instrument in classic rock?

And of course just reading the article will send you down a YouTube rabbit hole. Mine began with Boston's schlock rock anthem "Peace of Mind" (one of two Boston songs among the ten most frequently played songs on classic rock radio) and ended with "Turn Turn Turn" by the Byrds.

Anyway, read all about it here.